PAKISTAN RAILWAYS HISTORY
It all began In 1855, during the British Raj when
several railway companies started laying local rail tracks in several districts
of Sindh and Punjab. So, it can be said that the country’s rail system started
as a patchwork of local rail lines, constructed and operated by small-scale,
private railway companies of that time, which include the Scinde Railway,
Punjab Railway, Delhi Railway, and Indus Flotilla. However, most of these
companies merged and formed the North Western State Railway in the year 1880.
However, up till 1947, the year of independence,
the network of the North-Western State Railway expanded throughout Sindh and
Punjab. After the independence, around 8,122 kilometres (5,047 miles) of train
tracks of the North-Western State Railway came under Pakistani territories.
Initially, the system of railways in Pakistan was totally based on narrow-gauge
train tracks. The process of the conversion of these narrow-gauge railway
tracks into broad gauge railway tracks has been carried out from time to time
throughout the history of railways in Pakistan.
Some of the many large-scale extension projects on
the country’s railway system were carried out from the 1950s to the 1980s. As
of now, all of the narrow-gauge railway tracks have either been dismantled or
converted into broad-gauge railway tracks for a smoother flow of railways
traffic in Pakistan. The history of railways in Pakistan has been preserved and
put on display in the railway museums found in different cities across the
country.
Quick Fact: A narrow-gauge railway track is narrower and
thinner than the standard track gauge, measuring at least 1,435 mm. British
narrow-gauge railway ran miles and miles around the landscape of South Asia.
However, these days the most significant use of the narrow gauge railway track
is in the commercial industry, specifically for temporary arrangements since
such types of railway tracks are cost-effective and short-lived.
Update (Jan 24, 2022): In a recent development, the Railway Minister
of Pakistan Azam Swati has introduced the Scrapyard Management System. As the
name suggests, this state-of-the-art system will use the latest technologies to
digitally manage railway scrapyards in the country.
The newly launched Scrap Management System will be
linked with the Google Productivity and Collaboration Suite, which has been
simultaneously introduced and integrated into the system of the national
railway company. This all-new digital platform is envisaged to enhance the
collaboration and productivity of the concerned railway staff members.
According to the official details released, the
cloud-based scrapyard management system has been designed to digitise scrapyard
assets. It will streamline the entire inventory management process, promoting
the concept of transparency among the concerned departments of Pakistan
Railways.
A system powered by the advanced Google
Productivity and Collaboration Suite will also improve the efficiency of the
overall functioning of the railway company by allowing workers to easily
communicate with each other while working remotely in far-off locations.
Update (Jan. 13,
2022): The transportation of
temperature-sensitive products via trucks and other heavy vehicles is not only
costly but also harmful to the environment. These are the two main reasons why
Pakistan Railways (PR) has recently introduced the concept of reefer freight
trains in Pakistan in collaboration with the Marine Group of Companies. It’s a
groundbreaking initiative in the history of the national logistics and cargo
infrastructure.
“On average, railroads are three to four times more
fuel-efficient than trucks,” according to the PR official statement. It also
mentioned that using cold-chain trains instead of relying on heavy-duty
diesel-powered vehicles could not only cut down greenhouse gas emissions but
also significantly reduce the cargo delivery time.
As of now, this newly opened freight train service
in Pakistan operates with only one train a week. PR is aiming to expand the
operations to at least 12 trains a month in the near future. Moreover, in a
recent development, the first-ever refrigerated freight train of Pakistan
successfully completed its journey from the dry port of Marine International
Container Terminal in Prem Nagar-Lahore, all the way to Wazir Mansion railway station
on Mauripur Road in Karachi.
Update (Dec. 8,
2021): Pakistan Railway has
recently made necessary arrangements for the revival of a special train service
based on steam locomotives for tourism purposes. The steam train operation
already kicked off on December 3, 2021, and would run up till December 10,
2021.
The journey of this special train covers a rail
route from Rawalpindi to Attock Khurd, and then all the way to Nowshera. It
would pass through many different stations on the way to its destination.
During this train trip, relevant information about
the region’s railway history would be provided to a group of 35 onboard
tourists, photographers, train lovers, and adventure-seekers belonging to
different countries around the world, such as the UK, USA, Australia, France,
Spain, and Germany.
Update (July 5, 2021): Pakistan Railways, which is a state-owned railway
company, has recently launched a brand-new tourist train service in Balochistan
in order to promote tourism in the region. The new train service was
inaugurated on July 3, 2021, by top railway officials.
According to the latest news reports, this
newly-launched tourist train in Balochistan will operate two days a week,
usually every Saturday and Sunday. Since it is a state-owned service, fares
have been kept low to make it easily accessible by the masses.
The city of Quetta among many popular railway
stations in Balochistan like Kuchlak, Bostan, Baleli, Spezand Sariab, and
Kolpur will be the major stops of this tourist train service. Meanwhile, if you
want to learn more about Pakistan Railways and its key services, continue
reading this post.
Update (March 1, 2021): Pakistan Railways is resuming the operations
of trilateral container trains from March 4, 2021. The Pak-Iran-Turkey
container train service was initially launched back in 2009 with a fleet of
eight trains. But, due to security reasons, this trans-country railway service
was shut down soon after its launch.
A statement recently released by the Pakistan
Railways Headquarters has confirmed the relaunch of the freight train, which
will begin its journey from Istanbul in Turkey on March 4. Once operational,
this cargo train service will connect Pakistan with Iran and Turkey via an
immensely long rail route that stretches 6,566 km.
To reach Tehran from Islamabad, the container train
has to cover a distance of around 2000 km from where it will continue its
journey to Istanbul. This trans-country freight train route is also expected to
geographically benefit the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is
one of the most significant parts of China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI). It
will be linked with Pakistan’s ML-1 railway line, which is one of the
multi-billion dollar CPEC projects in the country.
Based
on a vast network of train tracks, tunnels, junctions, and dry ports, Pakistan
Railways is one of the largest and oldest railway systems in the world. It is a
state-owned railway company, which caters to the passenger as well as freight
transportation throughout the country and connects all major cities like
the network of motorways in Pakistan.
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